Means for disjointing pipes.



* No 653,978. v Patented July I7. 1900 J. -P. WIGAL. MEANS FOR DISJOINTING PIP ES.

(Application filed. Apr. 14, 1900.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES. INVENTOI? JamesBWigaL Wm I ATTORNEYS NITED STATES PATENT tries.

JAMES P. XVIGAL, OF HENDERSON, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR OF THREE:

FOURTI-IS TO CHARLES E. SUGG, SAMUEL S. WATHEN, AND-ROB- ERT B. CHEANEY, OF SAME PLACE.

MEANS FOR DISJOINTING PIPES.-

D SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 653,978, dated July 17, 1900.

Application filed April 14, 1900.

To to whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES P. WIGAL, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Henderson, in the county of Henderson and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and Improved Means for Disjointing Pipes, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to pi pe-j oints having soft-metal rings as a packing.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved means for removing a solid ring of soft metal in the joint to allow of readily disconnecting the sections of the pipe line without first disturbing or removing the pipe-line in the ditch or other support carrying the pipe-line.

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the claim.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the views.

Figure l is a perspective view of the improvement, and Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional side elevation of the same.

In disconnecting the sections of a pipe-line as heretofore practiced it was necessary to heat the joints of adjacent sections sufficiently to melt the soft-metal ring and to allow the molten metal to run outof the joint before it was possible to remove one section from the other. In pipe-lines under ground it was necessary to first remove the line from the ground and then build a fire around the joint to melt the ring, and it not only required a large amount of fuel, but it also took considerable time and labor to successfully accomplish the object.

With my method presently to be described in detail it is not necessary to first remove the pipe-line from the ditch to the surface of the ground, as the soft-metal ring is removed from the joint in a comparatively-inexpensive manner and in a very short time.

The method consists, essentially, in sub- Serial No. 12,836. (No model.)

jecting the soft-metal ring in the joint to the action of a highly-heated running stream of molten metal to cause the ring to melt and run with the said applied stream of metal out of the joint, the Whole amount of molten metal being saved and by additional heating is in condition for similarly treating other joints in the pipe-line.

In order to carry this methodinto effect, I proceed as follows: A pot A, containing an easily-fusible metal-such as lead, for instanceis heated over a fire in a furnace or other apparatus until the metal is in a molten condition and highly heated, and then the pot, by the aid of a suitable carrying device B, is carried to the joint to be treated and then the molten metal is poured through an inlet G into an annular recess C formed in a ring-shaped casing O, encircling the pipesection D adjacent to the head D of the other pipe-section D the recess 0 opening into the face of the solid soft-metal packing-ring E in the joint of the two pipe-sections D D as is plainly indicated in Fig. 2. The inlet 0, leading to the recess 0 is at the top of the casingC, and an outlet C leads from the bottom of the recess and discharges the molten metal into asuitable receptacle F beneath the pipe-line, as indicated in Fig. 1.

Now it is evident that the molten metal poured into the recess comes in contactwith the solid soft-metal ring and readily melts or fusesthe same; and this .additional molten metal of the ring mixes with the molten metal in the recess and flows with the same through the outlet. 0 into the receptacle F. Pouring metal from the pot A into the casing C is continued until the entire ringE in the joint has been melted and run out of the joint and easing into the receptacle F. When this has been accomplished, one or both pipe-sections can be readily moved lengthwise to completely disconnect the sections. Itis understood that by the method described a stream of highly-heated molten metalis made use of and run in contact with the solid soft metal ring in the joint to cause the ring to melt and flow with the active molten metal out of the joint and the casing, as above described.

The casing C is preferably made in sections adapted to be fastened together by clamps or bolts after the sections are placed on the pipe.

Having thus fully described my invention,

5 I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent The herein-described method for disjointing pipes and the like, consisting in subjecting the soft-metal ring in the joint to the ac- 10 tion of a running stream of molten metal, to

cause the soft-metal ring to melt and run with the said running stream of molten metal, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of I 5 two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES P. WIGAL.

Witnesses:

J. H. FOULT, S. O. HEILBRONNER. 

